I’ll agree we could all use a little more liberty and freedom in this world. I’ve written on the Churchill case before, and as I’ve said, I believe UC would be well within their rights to remove him as a professor. It’s not a universally held view, and Volokh comes up with some good arguments for greater academic freedom than UC is granting in this case. (I linked to Left2Right, which links to Volokh, partially because the comments are pretty good there, and partially because I’m having trouble with Volokh’s permalinks. Can’t figure out why.) ...

Carly Fiorina being asked to resign isn’t surprising, given the problems after the HP/Compaq merger, but this seems sudden, given all the company had been through in the last two years. Oh well, time to update my resume. ;) Link courtesy of Engadget

…to starting your own blog! I like this step: 23. Experience a fleeting sense of satisfaction that you now have a blog with an actual entry, even though it details your sexual attraction to Yoda.

I’ve been using MapQuest for most maps lately, but the new Google Maps looks good. For instance, it seems capable of giving directions that don’t involve getting out on the nearby interstate for what would be a two-mile trip up the street in front of my house. :)

Wow, having seen the last few minutes of the Super Bowl last night, I’m glad I’m not a Philadelphia fan. Yeah, Washington had huge problems with clock management this year, but at least they weren’t supposedly playing at the top of their game at the time. I couldn’t tell what was going on during that last long drive. :| Oh well, maybe next year the Panthers will get another shot at NE. ...

Interesting about those annuities. They make sense, from the standpoint of forcing folks to behave as if they were still on Social Security Classic™, but I suspect the intent is largely the same as the earlier investment accounts: To shove more money into the corporate sector. (I’m just surprised that none of it is going to Big Oil yet.) Even from a “conservative” philosophical standpoint, the private accounts plan I’ve heard so far seems like a primary purpose is to move tax money into the private sector. After all, the “It’s your money and you know best how to deal with it” argument only makes sense if we were free to simply not pay that portion of our Social Security tax and use the money however we pleased. However, does anyone think the social cost of such a plan — taking care of those who frittered their money away — wouldn’t far outweigh the cost of our current plan of enforced frugality and wealth redistribution? ...

Somehow I just don’t see how the court awards even the medical expenses in this case. I feel sorry for the lady, but an anxiety attack could be triggered by a lot of things, not just people leaving cookies at your door.

Interesting article in PC Magazine reviewing 15 Firefox extensions, but it leads off with this bizarre claim: “By itself, Firefox is a lean and fast browser, but it lacks some of the functions that we’ve come to take for granted from Microsoft Internet Explorer.” Easy way to lead off an article, but as someone who uses Firefox at home and IE at work, the only functions that I’ve noticed are “missing” have to do with being hacked and the privacy function that doesn’t work correctly. Firefox comes standard with functions that were only added to IE in the Service Pack 2 update, such as a popup blocker. ...

I am not drinking Mountain Dew right now. I am drinking Lipton Brisk Lemon Iced Tea (with other natural flavors) out of a can. I pressed the button on the machine for Mountain Dew, but apparently the drink machine guy is looking out after my health and wellbeing. It’s not bad. I grew up drinking iced tea, before I discovered the Mountain Dew elixir, but I don’t understand the label “with other natural flavors.” It tastes like tea with lemon, which tastes like tea, lemon juice, sugar, and water. All pretty much expected in lemon iced tea. What would the other natural flavors include…aluminum can? ...

“A manly embrace…” Yep, like Al and Tipper. :)